Page 37 of Strangers in Love

To prevent anyone from tossing the room to find shit, we put out some money, an expensive-looking watch, a throwaway phone, a credit card, and a pair of cufflinks. Cain apparently carried all of it with him on trips for this exact reason. He said the two times he’d had someone break into his room, they’d gone for the bait and taken the easy stuff, never bothering to search for anything else.

“Let’s get a recommendation for someplace to eat,” Cain said once everything was finally where he wanted it. “We can go our separate ways once we’re out of sight, start checking out our own leads.”

Since we weren’t here in any sort of legal capacity, we’d have to tread carefully, but I at least had one advantage over the other guys. A lot of the people at Neutral Ground were Americans. If I hinted at being a private investigator hired by Aline’s family, they’d most likely believe me and want to help. It was even sort of true. We were going to investigate to find out where Aline was. We just weren’t going to stop there.

After a quick bite to eat – which also worked into our cover story if anyone asked about us – I headed over to Neutral Ground. It was harder than I thought it would be to walk slowly, to pretend I was just enjoying the sights, not hurrying anywhere in particular.

It was a good thing my scar was so distinctive that it made undercover impossible because I sucked at it. Subtle was not my thing. And now that I thought of it, that was probably why Cain had sent me, rather than one of the other guys, to Neutral Ground.

It didn’t surprise me that a security guard came out when I buzzed at the gate. I could see the camera above the door and knew exactly what I looked like. Still, I fixed what I hoped was a polite smile on my face. I wasn’t trying to charm my way in, but I didn’t want to look too scary either.

“American?”

I nodded. “I’m looking for someone who volunteered here.”

He folded his arms. “We don’t give out names.” He had an accent that sounded like the locals, but his English was clear and precise.

I shook my head and held up my hands, palms out. “That’s okay. I have the name. Aline Mercier. Her family hired me to find her.”

He frowned. “Aline flew home last week…” Color drained from his face as he read the expression on mine. “She did not?”

It was my turn to frown. “Didn’t the police come talk to you?”

“I was visiting my sister last week. Today is my first day back.” He pressed a button next to the gate, and it opened. “Please, come in.”

I followed him into the building, looking around to gather as much information as possible. Aline hadn’t been taken here, but if she hadn’t been taken on a whim, it was entirely possible that she’d been watched while in this building. That meant the layout could be important.

“Miss Little is in her office,” he said as he took us down the main hall. “She’s in charge.”

“Did you know Aline?” I asked.

“Yes. She and her sister are nice girls.” He glanced down the hall, as if he was looking to see if anyone was watching. “The younger Miss Mercier is friendlier than the older one.”

“Freedom is…mean?” I wasn’t sure that was the right word, but I had to use something.

“She…” He seemed to search for words. “She cares about the work and about her sister very much.”

“But?”

He looked embarrassed, but I kept looking at him until he gave in. “She is, as they say, ‘all work and no play.’”

I wasn’t sure how relevant it was, but I filed the bit of information away. Who knew what would give us what we needed to know?

Forty-five minutes later, I had a head full of all sorts of shit that probably wasn’t going to do me any good. Miss Little had been polite and shared everything she knew, but it hadn’t been much. She’d told me the exact same thing she’d told the police, and it hadn’t helped them either. It’d been the same with everyone else too.

Freedom was polite but distant. Overprotective of her sister to the point where most of them suspected it’d been Aline’s idea to come here, and Freedom had only gone along with it to keep her sister safe. Which meant Freedom was feeling like shit right now, and I could sympathize with that.

Aline was, according to those I spoke to, sweet and always had a nice word for everyone. She’d been a hard worker and seemed to genuinely enjoy teaching. She’d also been described as innocent and a bit naïve.

The idea of someone like that in the hands of people who could so easily and brutally destroy her made me sick.

I had to find her.

There was only one name left on the list Miss Little had given me, and he’d just walked through the door.

Bright hair, blue eyes, sunburned, about five feet nine. Exactly how Miss Little had described him.

“Serle Lansky?”

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